Free Republic

I've been a Freeper for 25 years come next February, and I must admit that my knowledge and understanding of things has been immensely effected by the many great minds who are part of this great forum. Whether it's about politics, science, history, or religion, FreeRepublic has been to me, what many Colleges used to be. I have witnessed many a great mind debate other great minds, and I have witnessed my share of knock down, drag out, leave no prisoner, fights between Freepers who would die on their cross of beliefs. Probably the biggest was the battle of the...

Survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, have filed a $27 billion class-action lawsuit against multiple law enforcement officials in the state. This comes six months after the killings, which were the deadliest U.S. school shooting in almost a decade. Nineteen children and two teachers we killed by the gunman in May. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. It names the city of Uvalde, its police department, the school district, the state Department of Public Safety, and several police and school officials as defendants....

About 200 people in Paradise, Texas, searched for Athena Strand for three days. The authorities said she was taken near her home on Wednesday and found dead on Friday. A search for a missing 7-year-old Texas girl ended with the discovery three days later of her body and a FedEx contract driver being charged in her kidnapping and killing, the authorities said on Friday. The search for the girl, Athena Strand, began on Wednesday in Paradise, Texas, about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Nearly 200 volunteers and numerous law enforcement agencies, using dogs and a helicopter with thermal imagining,...

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner believes that Donald Trump will eventually be convicted—revealing in a Sunday morning interview which ongoing investigation he predicts will result in such unprecedented legal consequences for a former president.Trump faces a slew of legal battles and investigations, with two of them now being overseen by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18. One of those Justice Department probes is looking into whether the former president is criminally liable for the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, and his efforts to unconstitutionally overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election win.The Justice...

The Labor Department’s November jobs report on Friday certainly didn’t make the Federal Reserve’s anti-inflation task any easier. Strong job and wage growth suggests demand for workers still exceeds the supply, and inflation is still too high. Employers added 263,000 jobs last month though gains were revised down by 23,000 during the previous two. Private payrolls increased by 221,000 with hiring broad-based, including in leisure and hospitality (88,000), healthcare (45,000), construction (20,000), media and tech (19,000), manufacturing (14,000) and real estate (13,000). There’s no sign of a recession in this jobs data. Retail lost 30,000 jobs, probably owing to spending...

President Donald Trump delivered a special message this week for those who are being held in prison because of their alleged involvement in the events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol “riots” of 2021.“People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion and very, very unfairly,” Trump said in a new video shared on social media.“And we’re gonna get to the bottom of it,” he continued. “And you know what I’ve said – I take it very seriously. I have never seen anything like it at all levels. It’s the weaponization of the Department of Justice and we can’t let this happen...

Fox News host Tucker Carlson explored some of the double standards erected by Democrats and the corporate media for controversial public figures such as Volodymyr Zelemsky, janet Yellen, and Sam Bankman-Fried on his show this week.“We are going to start with a quiz. What do you have when you find Sam Bankman-Fried, Janet Yellen and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine all together in one room?” Carlson said. “A federal grand jury proceeding? That would be a good guess.”“Sam Bankman-Fried seems to have committed the biggest financial fraud in history,” Carlson added. “As the chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen bears...

Shipping companies have snapped up dozens of secondhand oil tankers this year, paying record prices for ice-class ships that can navigate frozen seas around Russia’s Baltic ports in winter. A driving force behind the purchases, say people familiar with the deals: To get Russian oil to market after the harshest sanctions to date strike Russia’s energy industry next week. The frenzy in a quiet corner of the shipping market is splitting the tanker industry in two. One part deals with Western oil companies, banks and insurers. The other, known informally in the industry as the “shadow fleet,” doesn’t, allowing it...

Miguel Almaguer, an NBC News correspondent who reportedly was suspended over his Nov. 4 report on Paul Pelosi’s attack, has posted photos on Instagram revealing his location after his sudden disappearance from the public eye. Almaguer’s now-removed report on NBC’s “Today” show went viral when he made previously unknown revelations regarding the attack. **SNIP** After NBC removed his report, Almaguer stopped posting on social media and disappeared from the public eye - until Nov. 16, when the UK’s Daily Mail captured him on camera at a local California supermarket carrying a bouquet of flowers. He again went missing until last...

Workers making minimum wage in most areas of New York will get a pay bump at the end of December. The minimum for workers in areas outside New York City, Long Island and Westchester County will increase from $13.20 per hour to $14.20, an increase of 7.5%, according to the state Labor Department. The pay bump means an extra $40 a week for someone working full time in a minimum wage job. The new rate goes into effect Dec. 31. Workers in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island already make at least $15 an hour. All fast food...

It’s Olympics time, which for me means a double figure skating season: Olympics followed by the World Championships in March. I’m a big fan of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. I find their skating wonderful. To have “wonder” is to be overcome with awe and amazement… and certainly some of their skating has made me feel that way, but how much more wonderful should I feel about YHWH!? Just the mere thought of God should make us feel wonderful, wonder-filled, filled with wonder… or in a colloquial term, “gob-smacked!” We should be Gob-smacked by God! The word Wonder hasn’t been...

"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." Luke, Chapter 15...

There are economic good times and economic bad times. When times get tough and money's tight, it's good to have Linux on your PC. 1. The OS and Apps Are Free 2. Your Current PC Will Run for Longer Running Linux means you can expect to use the computer for as long as you want. Rather than running into the artificial limitation of a company declaring your machine end of life and unsupported, you know you will receive free updates until your computer physically falls apart or becomes too underpowered to do what you need it to do. This makes...

A scientist who worked at a controversial research lab in China has claimed that COVID was a man-made virus that leaked from the facility, according to a report. Andrew Huff, who worked for a New York-based non-profit that studied viruses, said COVID leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China two-plus years ago and blamed authorities for the “biggest US intelligence failure since 9/11,” Britain’s The Sun reported Saturday. The lab has been at the center of fierce debates about the origins of COVID, with both Chinese government officials and lab personnel denying that the virus leaked from the...

In the Sunshine State, the voting is easy and the results are quick.The day after the 2020 general election, Florida governor Ron DeSantis crowed about his state’s performance. While vote-counting in other states was slow going and the results in several key races were still in doubt, Florida’s elections had seemingly gone off without a hitch. Of course, it wasn’t always that way. Two decades earlier, Florida had become the national poster child for mismanaged elections. In the razor-thin race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, images of Florida vote-counters with magnifying glasses eyeing so-called pregnant, dimpled, and hanging...

France has been given the green light to ban short haul domestic flights. The European Commission has approved the move which will abolish flights between cities that are linked by a train journey of less than 2.5 hours. The decision was announced on Friday. The changes are part of the country’s 2021 Climate Law. France is also cracking down on the use of private jets for short journeys in a bid to make transport greener and fairer for the population. Transport minister Clément Beaune said the country could no longer tolerate the super rich using private planes while the public...

Just a thought here as I think he was the last effective Speaker from the R party.

“A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1-10) Maybe when you heard today’s Old Testament Reading, from Isaiah, you were thinking: “Shoot? Fruit? Root? What in the world is Isaiah talking about? And who is this Jesse fellow? And what could all this possibly have to do with me?” Well, it has everything to do with you, so let’s listen now as Isaiah tells us about “A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse.” Our text is the reading from Isaiah chapter 11. The prophet begins: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” Who is this...

Every year on this, the Second Sunday of Advent and thus the second Sunday of the new liturgical year, the brash and burly figure of the Baptist bursts onto the liturgical stage, bellowing his characteristic charge, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” As we know, the First Sunday of Advent is always given to reflection on the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world whereas the Second and Third Sundays always focuses on John the Baptist, one of the most pivotal yet underappreciated figures in salvation history. In the context of this liturgy, the...

China has started taking steps to ease its zero-Covid-19 policy, fuelling a mix of relief and worry as the public waits to see the health consequences, and impact on the medical system, of a full-blown exit. Researchers have analysed how many deaths the country could see if it pivots to a full reopening, with most pointing to the country’s relatively low vaccination rates and lack of herd immunity as some of its most vulnerable spots. As of Friday, China reported 5,233 Covid-19-related deaths and 331,952 cases with symptoms.